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York, PA - The sound reverberated through the stadium at York Suburban High School.

A few seconds earlier, Susquehannock's Nathan Bilbie stood over a free kick from about 20 yards out, right in front of the Trojan goal. The home team held a 1-0 lead with a little less than 10 minutes left in the game. The ball screamed over the artificial turf toward the left post.

"I knew giving them a free kick there was dangerous. I knew we were in trouble," Suburban coach Tony Kowalewski said.

The ball bounced off the post, and the second-seeded Trojans cleared the danger. Nine minutes later, Suburban's Tanner Martin hit the back of the net from 30 yards out with the Warrior defense pushing forward on offense to seal a 2-0 victory in a District 3 Class AA first-round playoff game.

"Six inches, and that changes the whole dynamic of the game," Susquehannock first-year coach Jim Shank said, acknowledging that his team had to go for broke. "I'm playing with two guys in the back. I knew we were going to give one up in the end, shifting everyone up."

Suburban moved to 18-1 by beating the No. 15 Warriors (9-10-1) for the third time this fall. The Trojans bounced back from a loss in the opening round of the YAIAA tournament to South Western last week.

But the Trojans had anything but an easy path to their 7 p.m. quarterfinal matchup with No. 7 seed Tulpehocken (16-6) on Thursday at Cedar Crest.

Early pressure from Suburban failed to yield a goal as shots either flashed wide or Warrior goalkeeper Dan Snyder put himself in the right place. Martin, Jon Allen and Connor Fitzgerald led the attack in the early going for the Trojans.

"I was very anxious," Kowalewski said. "We haven't put away a lot of goals (this season) that we think we should. I think if we score one of those early goals, the game would be different."

About 15 minutes into the half, Susquehannock started to settle in, taking advantage of several long free kick opportunities to test Suburban goalie Ryan Myers, but none found their intended mark.

Hard work in the midfield by Andrei Kin and a fortuitous shot by Allen with 8:55 left in the first half broke the tie for the Trojans.

Kin fought off a challenge to win a loose ball about 40 yards from goal. When he turned to attack, Kin spotted Allen sprinting between a pair of Susquehannock defenders, and the sophomore laid the ball into space.

With pressure on his heels and Snyder charging forward, Allen toe-poked the ball toward the right side of the net. The shot caromed off the post and along the goal line before spinning over the line.

The deficit didn't put the visitors back on their heels for long. In the second half, Susquehannock continued to press the action as Suburban continued to come up empty.

Trojan senior back Zach Landis almost opened the lead to two goals with a dipping shot 10 minutes into the half. Snyder could only tip it over the bar, almost knocking it into his own goal. A second Landis attempt troubled Snyder again with 10 minutes left in the game and Griffin Vinarski nearly buried the rebound.

But the Warrior keeper stood tall and put his teammates in a position to tie the game, if not for the cruelty of the post.

Snyder had no chance nine minutes later when Martin, with only one defender to beat, ripped a line drive from long distance, catching the keeper out of position for the final goal.

"We're in districts so whatever we did against these guys in the regular season goes away, it doesn't matter," Kowalewski said. "We always play them tough and have good games together. Districts is a whole different ballgame. You always expect a grind it out kind of game."